Best of Fall 2012: the season’s must-see stage shows

THE ARSONISTS Singer-songwriter Justin Rutledge, who scored a ton of theatrical cred in the 2011 stage adaptation of Michael Ondaatje’s novel Divisadero, builds on his second career with a gig as the composer and chorus leader in this wicked postwar political farce by Swiss playwright Max Frisch.Nov. 11 to Dec. 9. Bluma Appel Theatre

BLOODLESS: THE TRIAL OF BURKE AND HARE Theatre20 kicks off its inaugural season with this black comedy based on the true story of two men who make a living in 19th-century Edinburgh by delivering corpses to medical schools. Colm Wilkinson acts as creative consultant; Adam Brazier directs.Oct. 9 to 28. Panasonic Theatre

ENDGAME Soulpepper staged Samuel Beckett’s post-apocalyptic classic back in 1999, instantly putting the nascent theatre company on the map. Original director Daniel Brooks brings back the despairing, debilitated quartet of Hamm, Clov (Diego Matamoros, reprising his role), Nell and Nagg.Oct. 26 to Nov. 17, Young Centre

LA CAGE AUX FOLLES Silver fox George Hamilton and his legendary tan take on the role of Georges, the nightclub owner who, along with his feathered and fabulous lover (also the club’s star attraction), must cope with their son’s fiancée and her conservative parents when they come for a visit. Quelle drag.Oct. 10 to Nov. 18. Royal Alexandra Theatre

TEAR THE CURTAIN! Is it a play within a movie? A movie within a play? Either way, this ambitious hybrid of film and theatre is an epic undertaking, requiring a team of more than 100 to stage the story of a theatre critic trapped between feuding families in 1930s Vancouver. The show asks big questions about artifice and art.Oct. 7 to 20. Bluma Appel Theatre

(Images: from top: courtesy of Justin Rutledge; by Keith Beaty/Getstock; by Cylla Von Tiedemann; by Paul Kolnik; by Tim Matheson)